Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary celebrated with fervor

The birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda was observed across the State through cultural programmes, seminars and prayers on Saturday. The day is also observed as the National Youth Day. A large number of people gathered at Ramakrishna Missions in Dehradun and Haridwar to mark the day.

A cultural programme involving the children and the youth was organised in the morning in the Ramakrishna Mission premises in Dehadun while puja and aarti were held in the evening. Several eminent persons who were present spoke volume of the monumental role Swami Vivekananda played in the renaissance of India.

A senior functionary of Ramakrishna Mission Haridwar Swami Daydhipananda said that a tremendous response has been received from the people regarding the national level online quiz competition on the life and teachings of Swamiji hosted by Ramakrishna Mission Bengaluru to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Chicago address of the monk. “The online quiz started at 10 am and the people from across the societal spectrum, particularly the children and the youth, participated in it enthusiastically in the district,” he said.

Meanwhile, the students of PEN India School located near Sapera Basti in Dehradun appealed to the youth to support their education.

PEN India School is an initiative of PEN India Foundation for providing free and quality education to the underprivileged children in Bhaniawala.

On the occasion of National Youth Day, the students wrote slogans and made passionate request to the youth to come forward as volunteers and support them in their education.

Prakash Keshaviah, the patron of PEN India Foundation, said that despite many such schools existing in the State, there are still many children from the unprivileged families for whom education remains out of bounds. “We appeal to the youngsters to come forward and volunteer in such schools to fulfil the dream of India dreamt by Swami Vivekananda,” he added.